What is Wholeness?

What is Wholeness?

Fr Harshajan Pazhayattil, OFM

The Greek root "Holos" means "Whole" which is more than the sum total of its parts. It can be written as Holistic (Greek) or Wholistic (English). Inherent in every being is an eternal "Dharma" (innate orientation/ alignment or duty) as the unifying principle towards an eternal "Rta" (balance) of universal oneness, in the Absolute Unity—The Infinite (God) in Whom plurality and diversity are a beauty of his creation in complementarily and polarization to be respected and crowned in unity for meaning, and from Whom those in concert and every cell in them inhale powers of greatness and wholeness greater than their own. The alienated lack the touch of completeness. But the inner hunger of the alienated and the wounded cry for wholeness against a resistant ethos and pathos.

In human brokenness or emptiness the existential hunger for wholeness is experienced stronger as the innate Dharma as the inherent unifying principle of oneness in Redeeming Love enlightens deeper consciousness. It may happen in an encounter with the Spirit of Love or as one opens to levels of Redeeming Love in solitude, prayer, nature, dialogue, loving relationships, counselling, reflection, defeat etc. Thus within this existential hunger one gets fully "focused" in Redeeming levels of Love (God) as the unifying principle of wholeness. This "focus" is called existential intentionality or existential intentional consciousness. This intentionality, orientation, directedness or "focus" gradually serves as a constant /habitual " inner watch" or "inner eye", "Dhristi" intent on God as Love Liberating, in whom alone is wholeness, greatness and divineness and the consequent healing, health and growth. Such a focussed hunger for wholeness in Love (Existential Holistic approach in life) is radially curative, essentially preventive and basically integrative of wholesome growth.

Oneness lived is love and its expressions (l Cor. 12: 12; 13:1-13), and genuine love is an experience of oneness. Love that does not lead to an experience of oneness is manipulation or selfishness as rippings of "Dharma" and "Rta" of wholeness. Therefore, in love as oneness the Absolute (God) is within human reach. The innate and insatiable human hunger for wholeness in the Infinite and to be eternal is made a human reality (Mt.5.1-12) when God became Incarnate to reveal that God is Love (lJn.4:8), "Love is eternal" (l Cor.13:8) and "to open our finiteness and lead us to the breadth of his Infiniteness" (Card. Ratzinger, Nov. 1996). Therefore is the call to grow in Love (Mt.5:48; Jn.13:14; 15:12-13) becoming "Father" - mother, brother, sister and all for all; thus experientially becoming bigger than one's physical or natural size as Incarnations of the Absolute; and the call to touch, heal and redeem life "in all its fullness" (Jn.10:10) in experiential completeness or oneness of Love (Jn.10:16;17:20; Lk.24:17). Thus wholeness is more than the sum total of its parts not only as natural consequence of Rta or natural chemical changes, but also because of the call and the inner hunger to grow in Love Redeeming as embodiments of the Absolute Unity.

Mere consciousness of oneness (as cosmic oneness) does not mean growth in oneself. Whereas humble and grateful consciousness of the liberating levels one has grown in Love in response to God's call (Matt. 5:48) gives greater realistic experience of growth in divineness one is called to, and of the Supreme Oneness with the Absolute.

Redeeming Love as the Basis of Wholeness:

God is Love; God is Redeemer. Therefore, God is Love Redeeming. There are aspects, dimensions and levels of love that touch our hearts to let us grow attitudinally and all the way to a liberated level of existence and experience daily, which gives a sense of integration - healing, wholeness, divineness, and the consequent inner joy, strength and freedom; because these levels of Love match our innate hunger for wholeness which is God as Redeeming Love. Any ordinary person can have these rich experiences of put-togetherness, inner joy and peace. When it happens they know it and hunger for it. But if they knew how, they could have that deep experience more often or always. The above and the following are some such essentials. Some essential levels of Love or Redeeming characteristics of Love are:

1. Universal Dimensions of Love:It means an attitudinal growth to make every step a step towards universal brotherhood and sisterhood beyond enslaving relationships, caste, culture, region and self-seeking, by dying to them so as to grow free and walk with God who is Love Universal. One who walks with God dwells with God; one who dwells with God alone can become expressions of that God-experience which is Love Universal or Catholic (= quality of being whole, general or universal) as opposed to sectarian or communal. The greatness of a person in any vocation is to be understood in terms of universal love for which one sacrifices willingly one's personal needs. Even while working for daily bread or a personal goal, does so subjecting it in view of realizing a common or universal cause at its meaningful depth. Joyfully then suffers to realize that universal cause as the abiding thrust "focused", integrated and whole. This universal dimension of love one readily responds is a response of the whole person and every cell therein, allowing to grow to dimensions and vivaciousness nature is not able. Universal love has a miraculous healing/health aspect so often experienced when one's universal love is so genuine that it touches one's own heart. And when it touches the other, there is a miracle again.

2. Inseparability of Love: Anyone who wants to attain heaven which is inseparably lasting Love, and God Who is Love, the Undivided Unity has to be inseparable in relationships of love. That means to be realistic in expectations, and adjust, forgive, reconcile, build together, and grow unbreakable in relationships of love to universal dimensions as to experience wholeness. Only such a Love can heal the pathology of separatedness that often breeds meaninglessness, tension, insecurity, alcoholism, drugs etc.

3. Love at the Level of the Cross: When love becomes really genuine it becomes meek, humble, simple and self-sacrificing enough for self-giving. Humble love and self-sacrificing love always touch hearts. Touched by Love they rise above differences to authenic uniqueness in love letting divinity shine forth. Such persons have an eternal leadership that often draws the universe to liberation.

4. Love Genuine and Authentic to be all for all: It means sensing others' deepest recesses and responding to their growth intentionality, and growth potentials in one's own genuine ways for the joy of experiencing mutually freeing, enriching dimensions of Love, and growth in the image of God. Such a rich sense of meaningfulness becomes a deterrent to greed, consumerism, unhealthy competition and meaninglessness in life making the talented committed to hard work for sharing rather than accumulating richess for oneself.

5. Levels ofLove That Touch Hearts: Theabove dimensions of Love may not be realized to ideal level, but must be so real and genuine that they touch one's own heart in response of the deep innate hunger to grow whole in Redeeming levels of Love and experience greatness, divineness (Mt.5:48) in such a way that it may someday touch other's hearts and summon to grow whole.

In 1970s during my work in a hospital in California a suicidal patient, a lady in her 30s was brought in for treatment. The reason for her suicide was that her husband wanted to take leave of absence from marriage for two years to spend on women. He wanted to do it with her knowledge and consent to make her feel guilty of her failures. For months she tried to dissuade him, but failed. Gradually she grew sick; underwent treatment to no avail. Finally she preferred suicide. In the clinic techniques of crisis intervention was tried. Initially she refused to cooperate. Then I asked whether she wants to make her life meaningful. She said "yes". Through a process of therapy she was helped to come in touch with her feelings of pain, humiliation, betrayal, anger, revenge, etc. in proportion to the hurts her ego suffered. Experiences were deep. Her psychological ego-identity, autonomy and self-respect were strong . In ordinary situations this level was enough. But to handle and grow through this present experience to a higher level of greatness she needed greater identity, inner freedom and a willed "focused" mindset open to grow to wholeness in Love Redeeming rather than the present autonomy or control of status quo. Her present mindset had very little or no growth options rather it was defensive leading to frustrations and suicide. The highest level of freedom in one's greatest identity as the Image of God, is an innate hunger. Whereas the psychological comes by training at developmental stages to grow enough to choose the innate. Her husband's attitude triggered her innate hunger for depth and wholeness which she did not possess. It had to be experiential by reaching out to him in Love and unity. God is the Healer. Medicine disposes; so also the psychological to tap the inner hunger for wholeness. Now I used a holistic approach I had developed to summon her hunger for wholeness and grow in Love Redeeming. At the realization of her hunger there was deep change in her creating a redeemed/liberated nature, attitude and a mind set leading to spontaneous action for a full experiential life of wholeness. She went home; made known her decision to her husband that she would not approve of his ways, yet love him so universal (as to love him even though unfaithful), so inseparable (as to forgive and reconcile for the joy of experiencing her inner growth), even though it meant humiliation, self-giving and sacrifice (as to be on the Cross). He could feel her sincerity and touch divinity in her. He knelt down and kissed her feet; and promised that he would love her in the same way. Her decision to love him was not conditional based on mutuality. When she decided to love, she said, she felt 10 feet taller. In the clinical chart her height was 5'.4". So, did she grow up 15'.4" ? Even more, she grew to the size of God (Mt.5:48). Her actual growth level was attested by her disloyal husband's kneeling down and kissing her feet in recognition and veneration of her growth in divine Image/ Redeeming Love. Her growth healed all her ills within days. Thus in her case it is verified that the normal human being is not the size of the body, but the size of God (Mt.S:48), Love Redeeming. Anyone who falls short of this stature has a hopeless pathological condition that hinders growth as a human being - physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and so on affecting every cell ot his/her being. Whereas, when allowed to grow to the size of God in Love at liberating levels she was saved from suicide, brokenness, meaningless, and from her need to hide behind mere psychological developmental stages, autonomy, success and the recognition, prestige, and monetary gains they offered however useful they might have been to a certain level, but ultimately suicidal as her life proved. Here is another important factor: only when she decided to grow as becomes her genuine authenticity with a "focused" mindset the medicines, food, relationships, nature and everything worked for total healing. She was educated, respectable, and knew her identity, autonomy and such psychological developmental stages as St.Paul, and St.Francis of Assisi had before conversion. All of them were her experiences as good, supported by others. But such stages gave way to a deeper inner growth in divine stature as St.Paul puts it: "Not I, but Christ liveth in me". So far she was as strong as herself (the power of her psychological or natural identity). But now she is as strong as God with her divine identity as the Image of God in Love Redeeming. She gloried in her self-accepted sufferings and humiliations for the joy of growing in Love as gain in exchange for the real identity of wholeness which is more than the sum total of her psychological, social, vocational, educational dimensions and such parts and elements put together as natural identity.

Once doctors prescribed medicine for her ills. Psychotherapists brought her to the options of 'becoming her own woman', 'interdependence in tolerance', or mutually freeing to enjoy with others. Some social workers suggested 'autonomy', 'divorce' and 'remarriage'. She tried everything except the last two. She tried to convert him to her way. None of them worked except when she decided to under go conversion in response to her innate hunger for wholeness which is the basic call in Mt.5:48. The existing pathology, medicine, psychology, psychotherapy social work etc need to be made holistic to serve human beings called to grow in the Image of God (Redeeming Love).

Influenced by Redeeming Love Rabindranath Tagore wrote: A healthy personality is the "principle of uninterrupted relation" (Tagore, 1963, p.42). For Mahatma Gandhi the characteristics of a harmonious personality are: "... Knowledge of God, ...Selfless social action" (Gandhi, 1956 p. 338). For Gandhi "Ahimsa means live in the Pauline sense" of love in lCor. 13:113 (Gandhi, 1936, p.107), so much so PanditJawaharlal Nehru acknowledged him to be an "embodiment of some greater force" (1964. p.168). Honourable Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer (Retd. Supreme Court Judge) on October 15, 1991 in Trivandrum publicly declared his real identity in spirit and spoke of the forces of this Love for human liberation. The research conclusions of Caritas India states that religions with God as Love encourage wholesome human progress.

If Redeeming Love is a reality in life, then God is real in life as the liberating and integrating reality. Such Love is "holistic, in the sense it deals with every dimension of life such as spiritual, intellectual, emotional, vocational, social, physical, financial, environmental, hereditary, dietary etc and with every aspect of human existence in the world with the proper priority they deserve as part of the total person destined to grow greater than the physical, emotional, social, etc. to the very size of God (Redeeming Love)".